For the first time, Pakistan has hinted that an operation could be launched against militants in Punjab on the pattern of the ongoing offensive in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan. Meanwhile, authorities have arrested seven men for the carnage in two mosques in Lahore. It was indicated by Interior Minister Rehman Malik while talking to a Lahore-based news channel 'City 42'. Mr Malik Acknowledged that Punjab-based groups like Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Sipah-e-Sahaba had joined hands with the Taliban and al Qaida, and said an operation could be launched against them in the southern part of Punjab. The minister said that members of these groups from Punjab had gone to the tribal areas and received training there, they then came back to Punjab and became part of sleeper cells. Those militants who were hiding in South Punjab are now surfacing. The comments of the interior minister came days after the gruesome carnage carried out by the Punjab unit of the Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) in two mosques in Lahore in which 95 people belonging to the minority Ahmedia sect were killed.